Tom Brady winning a Super Bowl during his first season with the Buccaneers was impressive enough. That accomplishment is even more remarkable given that Brady played the season with a torn MCL that ultimately required surgery this offseason.
While he has looked like his usual self during training camp, the seven-time Super Bowl champion admitted that this offseason was anything but a walk in the park. Brady had offseason surgery for the first time since 2011, when he had surgery on his right foot.
"It feels good now," Brady said of his surgically repaired knee, via Greg Auman of The Athletic. "It was not my favorite offseason of all-time. I hadn't had surgery in a long time, so you kind of forget the rehab process and so forth. It's kind of a long, arduous offseason when you go through rehab like that. I got a lot of time with my family and stuff, so that was really enjoyable. But I'm happy to be back to work, and just trying to get better tomorrow."
The injury, change of scenery, injuries to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin and lack of a preseason likely contributed to Brady's slow start in 2020. But after throwing 11 interceptions in the season's first 12 games, Brady threw 20 touchdowns and just four interceptions during the Buccaneers' eight-game winning streak that culminated in a 31-9 win over the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV. When asked whether or not he would take snaps during the 2021 preseason, Brady said he would like to play as much as possible. Brady has only not played in the preseason twice: last season (when there was no preseason) and in 2008, when he was recovering from a foot injury.
"I'm sure BA (Bruce Arians) will have a plan for us," Brady said in regard to playing during the preseason.
While his preseason status is currently unknown, Brady said that his current focus is on practice. Brady reinforced Arians' 'expletive' description of the Buccaneers' Friday practice. The Buccaneers are trying to become the first team since Brady's 2004 Patriots to repeat as champions.
"It wasn't our best day," Brady said. "The important part is realizing that we're starting at the bottom with everybody else. We've got to climb our way up. We're going to have our challenges. There will probably be different challenges than last year. We've got to put the work in.
"It's training camp. It's a grind. We've got to grind through it. We're going to be bad days, we're going to be good days. We've got to come out tomorrow with more urgency."